Thirty-eight years ago as we began our married life, we cycled out of Strafford, Vermont and began a year-long bicycling adventure traveling around the world. (The photo is from Nepal.) Then came another wonderful adventure -- children and careers. With children on their own and our careers behind us, we entered the next chapter, again with a bicycle adventure. That one was more modest, train trips across the country and five weeks on bikes from Los Angeles, CA to Portland, OR; but it greeted us with we good riding, great sights, and interesting people.

After two bicycle trips on the west coast, we tried something different. With an old dog along for the ride and a camper in the bed of the pickup, we set off for the desert southwest exploring national parks, enjoying daily cycling, and even playing a little golf.

In Spring, 2017, we decided on an international adventure. We landed in Lisbon, Portugal and rode a loop through Portugal and Spain and back to Lisbon. Once again, seeing the sights, meeting people, and pedaling 1600 miles were wonderful!

In March 2018 we left Maine after a big snow storm and headed to North Carolina for some warmth - we didn't find it. We went further south to SC - still didn't find it! But we did discover new places to cycle and explore!

It is now August 2023, kids are married with families of their own (five wonderful grandchildren) and we are off on another adventure! Our first stop will be Lily Bay State Park on August 13, then head north and west, across Canada and into Alaska driving and camping with bikes and a canoe. Here is the family, though missing Miles' wife, Baily.

Monday, March 31, 2014

Far across Phoenix....

We had a good ride from Wickenburg down to the Phoenix area. Great shoulder on route 60 and mostly a slight downhill. We rode into Sun City and found our warm showers hosts, Trudy Bryson and Larry Vroom. They have a lovely home on one of the golf courses and welcomed us after the almost 60 miles. Dana was very excited when they suggested we play nine holes on the Quail Run Golf Course (and yes, we saw plenty of quails) in the afternoon.


We then had a delicious dinner and Larry was helpful in figuring out our route to Fountain Hills on Sunday. I even got a short, but productive ukulele lesson after dinner and we gave Dana a very brief concert in the morning before leaving.



Larry and Trudy rode with us halfway across the greater Phoenix area and we had a wonderful lunch at a diner in Paradise Valley. Our ride then became a bit more discouraging on a six lane road with no bike shoulder heading east to Fountain Hills. We were so surprised it was 52 miles across the Phoenix area, and then, to top it off, Judi and Justin Brynes' house was five miles uphill! After over 1000 miles, Dana had to use his granny gear. I had succumbed many miles ago. But those evil hills were worth the visit with another Moorestown high school friend, and we got to see Kit Jefferson, Judi's mom too.




This saguaro cactus is over 800 years old. It takes 50-100 years before they grow there first arm. 




This fountain in Fountain Hills shoots 600 feet in the air on the hour. We will slow down a bit and take three days to get to Tucson.



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  1. Susan AllenApril 4, 2014 at 7:25 AM

    Wow guys - What a trip - lots of ups and downs (and I don't mean just the hills!) Enjoy Tucson - We loved our visit there in 2007. Beautiful (but if you go up Mt. Lemmon, you might want to leave the bikes behind :-) )

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